Pipe Heating Technical Briefs

Impedance Pipe Heating - Hot Water Tracing Comparison

In this article a review and comparison were made between two unique process pipe heating solutions,hot water jacketed tracing and electric impedance pipe heating. The decision on which type of pipe heating method used for a given application is often made early in a project and often without thought beyond what was done on the last project. As described above, this is a missed opportunity to improve process performance and positively impact plant OEE, Overall Equipment Effectiveness, and maintenance resources.

Performance

In this article a review and comparison were made between two unique process pipe heating solutions,hot water jacketed tracing and electric impedance pipe heating. The decision on which type of pipe heating method used for a given application is often made early in a project and often without thought beyond what was done on the last project. As described above, this is a missed opportunity to improve process performance and positively impact plant OEE, Overall Equipment Effectiveness, and maintenance resources.

Did you know that in addition to temperature maintenance and differential Banner-Day can predict and size for a specified minimum warm-up time for your ingredient, material, product or process? This can be from a minimum ambient temperature to operating maintenance temperature, or thawing of an ingredient or product that has solidified within your impedance pipe heating system (IPH).

While in essence the simplest and most elegant way to heat a pipeline, impedance heating technology is often viewed incorrectly and misunderstood as a method to heat pipe. At its core, impedance pipe heating is done by applying a low voltage AC source to a pipe and allowing electric current to pass through the pipe. While technically any voltage can be utilized, without special isolation and containment provisions the National Electric Code (NEC) limits impedance system designs to a maximum secondary voltage of 80V.

When it comes to impedance systems, not all systems are made equally. Yes, all impedance systems heat by passing current through a pipe. Yes, they all have a set temperature they can maintain. But what about the amount of time it takes the system to heat from startup? What about the ability to heat a product as it flows through a pipe? What can each system do? Or, as usually asked in the initial design phase, what does this system need to do? That simple question opens the door for many possibilities when it comes to the design of an impedance heating system.

Learn about impedance pipe heating – What is it? How does it work? Banner-Day pipe heating technology, which uses low voltage electric current to heat materials flowing through a pipeline, is explained in detail.